As someone who grew up in Birmingham, I find it fascinating to watch the city embrace different industries. In my lifetime, steel and banking were once the dominant forces. I’ve witnessed the growth of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, both in size, stature and biomedical research.

The city’s embrace of technology is a personal favorite.

I feel fortunate to play a tiny role in that area. I’ve had the opportunity to mingle with those working in technology in Huntsville, Nashville and Atlanta: We’re in good company.

The growth has not been without its challenges. I remember how the City of Birmingham hemmed and hawed in 2015 over authorizing ridesharing apps.

What should people new to the Birmingham scene know about our tech scene?

We could use about a hundred more Shipt startups that capture national media attention and attract more investors.

• TechBirmingham has been a friend to our conference for years, before under Jennifer Skjellum and now under Deon Gordon. The nonprofit organization has weathered its ups and downs, but has grown through its many events throughout the year.

The most notable is Sloss Tech, which brought filmmaker/YouTuber Casey Neistat (shown above) for its second annual conference this summer.

• Almost every local recruiter needs more coders. Year after year, they search here and throughout Alabama and points beyond to offer them great jobs. Programmers in demand can earn six figures in a short time, which goes a lot further with Birmingham’s low cost of living.

I encourage anyone who loves problem solving and technical work to learn to code. One local company that offers boot camps is Covalence, which announced last week that it will add online courses in February.

Birmingham has made technology into a force for adding jobs, shaking up systems and improving our quality of life. I can’t wait to see what’s next.